Disney revives the Accelerator program

The House of Mouse is looking to work with 10 startups that have expertise in AI, AR, e-commerce, data analytics, frontier tech and robotics.

Disney loves a good reboot (a new live-action Mulan film will premiere later this month and a Proud Family revival is in the works for its streamer Disney+) and the House of Mouse is bringing back the Accelerator program after taking last year off.

The Accelerator is now looking for 10 growth-stage startups to participate. Participants will be announced in July. Accelerator s a three-month mentorship program that connects the startups with experts at Disney.

Any company looking to apply can do so here. Disney is looking for any company that has the potential to make an impact in tech and entertainment, specifically ones that have expertise in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, e-commerce, data analytics, frontier tech and robotics.

Disney Accelerator was first created six years ago and since then has worked with companies like Sphero and Epic Games. Sphero went on to create numerous robot toys with Disney, such as the BB-8 droid (pictured, which became the number-one Star Wars toy in 2015) before getting out of licensing and focusing on education. Epic Games, the creator of the Unreal Engine, was a part of the Accelerator in 2017 and has since worked with Disney on an LED stage production technology as part of The Mandalorian series. Disney also used the tech co’s real-time rendering capabilities to create the interactive experience that’s part of the new Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride at Disneyland and Disney World in California and Florida, respectively.